In a situation where the computer starts to work slowly, the only correct way out among the recommendations for self-configuring the computer, you will find reinstalling the operating system, but this is not always done correctly, so then it becomes necessary to remove the old windows after installing the new one. Usually, the OS is installed on a clean partition, but if it so happens that you have installed a new operating system Windows system there (in the same logical drive), where the old one, then it will automatically remove the files of the old operating system in a folder called "Windows.old". After all required files have been saved, the folder with the old OS can be deleted. Moreover, hard disk space is never too much. This can be done in two ways.
Removal by means of Windows
Clearing the boot menu
After you have installed a new operating system in the same partition, you may have a problem in the form of a menu that prompts you to choose which OS to choose when booting. This problem is simple enough to solve.
- Click "Start";
- Type msconfig in the search bar;
- Select this program in the search results;
- In the next window go to the "Download" tab;
- Choose an old operating system;
- Click the "Delete" button, after which the program will inform you about the need to restart;
- Reboot your computer.
After all the above steps, the operating system will boot into normal mode and the menu with the choice of the operating system will no longer appear.
How to delete old Windows installations there is nothing difficult, the main thing is to decide on the method of execution. Now you can start adjusting the sound on your computer, and setting up drivers, network and other things with peace of mind. Remember: in order to avoid uninstalling previous versions operating systems, it is recommended to install Windows on a pre-formatted partition. Thus, you will save your new operating system from garbage in the form of programs and files. previous version Windows.
This article will tell you how to remove the old "Windows" after installing the new one.
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When reinstalling the operating system " Windows»The user has two choices:
- Demolish the old system and install a new one
- Install new " Windows"Without formatting the old Windows partition
If you are a beginner and reinstalled the system for the first time, then it is possible that you used the second option, simply not knowing about the existence of the first. In this case, the old version " Windows"Will be stored in separate folder, taking up extra space on your hard drive, and there is no particular benefit from it.
Then there will be a need to get rid of this extra burden. How to do it? In today's review, we will discuss options for how to remove the second redundant operating system " Windows»On a computer or laptop.
By formatting Right place on the disk, you will forever and completely get rid of the unnecessary old " Windows". This method is considered to be the simplest and most convenient, so we will start with it.
Before proceeding with the operation, transfer, just in case, all important information from one section hard disk to another or to a USB flash drive. Next, do the following:
- Turn on the computer by going to the operating system that you want to leave untouched
- Then go to " Control Panel-Administrative Tools-Computer Management-Disk Management».
The first way to remove an unnecessary Windows operating system is to format
- Then press right click mice on that partition hard the disk on which the old OS is located, and then - on " Format". This action will cleanly demolish the old second Windows from your computer or laptop.
The first way to remove an unnecessary Windows operating system is to format
- If you do not know which section you need to format, then do a simple operation. Go to " Start", Then click on" Execute", Enter the following request in the field of the pop-up window:" % windir%". Now click on " OK».
- This will open a folder that cannot be demolished. Once in the folder, pay attention to its address bar up. As a rule, the path to this folder should be like this - " C: \ Windows". Remember this folder so as not to accidentally delete it in the future, although this will not be so easy.
- As a result, you need to restart your computer, and you will go into your new operating system. Check if everything worked out for you, if there is no second unnecessary operating system left on the computer.
This instruction will help you if you have installed " Windows 7, 8". Sometimes it happens that the files of the second operating system are deleted from the computer, but you can see it in the downloads. To delete extra Windows from download, do this:
- Go to the menu " Start"And then click on" Execute»
- Now, in the field of the window already familiar to us, enter the following query: “ msconfig". Press " OK»
Removing the second Windows operating system from the boot
- Then a new one will open system window... Go to the "" tab, and here you will see a list of all operating systems that are on your computer. As a rule, there are two of them, if it comes about two operating systems. The one you need will be marked as "Current operating system". Take a look at the screenshot. And you can safely delete any second one. Select the second operating system with the mouse, click on " Delete"And further - to" OK».
Removing the second Windows operating system from the boot
- Now a window will open to reboot the system. This must be done in any case for the above operations to take effect. Press "". After that, we can consider that the job is done.
Removing the second Windows operating system from the boot
Let's say you installed " Windows 7"Over" Windows XP" or vice versa. You are satisfied with the new operating system, and now you want to get rid of the old one. There is another method to do this, and without using additional software.
Follow the instructions:
- Find the folder " Windows.old»
- Click on it with the right mouse button and then on " Properties»
- We go to " Properties-Security»
- Next, go to “ Additionally", And then into the" Owner»
- Select the owner, check the box next to " Replace owner of subcontainers and objects" and press " Apply».
- Now go to the " Permissions", Select the owner of the folder" Windows.old"And click on the button" Change».
Second way to remove unnecessary Windows operating system
- Next, a window will open in which you need to put the checkboxes exactly as shown in the picture. Then click on " OK"And in the next window also click on" OK". Thus, the old operating system will be removed from the computer.
Second way to remove unnecessary Windows operating system
Video: How to remove the second "Windows" from the computer?
Sometimes users install new windows 7, but forget to delete the old one. There is nothing critical about this, however old Windows takes up a lot of space. This article provides information on how to remove old windows 7.
There are several ways to uninstall old Windows:
1. Removing old Windows using Disk Cleanup
You must run Disk Cleanup. You can find it through "Start". We click "All programs", there "Standard", then "Utilities" and in the list we find the required component.
It is the item "Previous Windows installations" that we need. Select the checkbox if it is not there and click OK. When asked about irreversible removal we answer "Delete files". After a while, the files old windows 7 will be deleted.
2. Removing old windows without programs
If the program cannot be found for some reason, or if there are some problems with it, you can remove Windows manually. To do this, we find the folder Windows.old and set the rights necessary for deletion.
Go to the folder properties (RMB - Properties) and go to the "Security" tab
Click on "Advanced". On the "Owner" tab, select current user and put a tick on "Replace owner of subcontainers and objects" and click "Apply".
Now on the "Permissions" tab, select the account that you made the owner of the folder and change it (the "Change" button)
A window appears with Permission element, where we put a checkmark where it is highlighted in the screenshot below. Then click OK and with a safety warning.
After the performed manipulations, it will be possible to delete the Windows.old folder without any difficulty, and the question of how to remove the old Windows 7 is being solved.
3. Removing old Windows by formatting the disk
This method is more radical, but as the saying goes, "fail-safe". The bottom line is that you need to boot from installation disk or a USB flash drive and start installing a clean Windows. At the time of choosing a disk, you will need to delete all partitions, mark HDD back and format all partitions. Thus we get clean system, without any sign of old operating systems.
Attention! This method will delete all the data that is on the computer, so it is recommended if you are not sorry for them.
A nice addition to the new Windows 10 operating system is the fact. This saves all user files, settings and programs. Unfortunately, this comes at a very high cost in the form of depriving some of the hard drive space. Yes, there is a folder called Windows.old that stores the old version. So the 10th generation can quite easily return to the user everything that he had before the installation.
However, old folder huge in size, as necessary a large number of data for a correct rollback. Many users wish to delete such a folder. Well, in fact, Windows 10 looks so great, and all the bugs are likely to be fixed in the not too distant future. Thus, the question arises, how can anyone delete this unnecessary folder old to let the system breathe freely and not store an impressive pile of old junk? On this score, there is a certain simple sequence of actions.
Getting rid of the old
The old folder on the computer is formed if the user automatically switched from Windows 7 or 8 to 10 series. Also, it can occur if you hold clean install without formatting hard disk. Often it eats away at several gigabytes, which are very valuable at the current cost of hard drives.
It should be remembered that if you rub the old folder on your computer, you won't be able to painlessly return from Windows 10 to your old system.
So this decision should be approached extremely carefully. So, if all doubts are swept away, then:
- Click on Win keyboard+ R, which launches a special Run window.
- Enter the command in the window that appears: cleanmrg and click on OK.
- Thus, starts standard cleaning disk.
- In the window that appears, click on the Clean up system files button.
In this simple way, you can delete a folder called Windows.old. But Windows 10 is a cunning system full of unpleasant surprises. Therefore, in some cases, you can simply not delete the old folder for reasons not clear to the user. In this case, there are countermeasures.
If it didn't work right away
We open a wonderful interface command line, who always helps out in difficult times. Naturally, you need to do this under administrator rights. Next, enter the command: RD / S / Q C: \ windows.old. Of course, this folder must be located on the C drive. Press Enter and wait for the result.
There is another way to delete the old folder. To do this, you should:
- Launch Task Scheduler, which can be opened via search.
- In the list of tasks that opens, find the SetupCleanupTask.
- Click on this assignment right-click and select Run from the drop-down menu.
At the end of the process, the old folder should be gone forever.
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After installing a new operating system on top or in parallel (in another section) of the previous one, the question arises of how to get rid of the remnants old version. Old Windows if it is installed in the same section, it gets the name Windows.old and does not interfere with the main system. If the old operating system is installed in a different partition, then the folder name remains the same, but this does not interfere with the new system either. Everything seems to be fine, but there are two problems. Firstly, the old system takes up useful space and the volume can be more than impressive. Secondly, it is present in the boot menu, which we see when we turn on the computer. How to get rid of old Windows?
Why can't you just delete old files?
Old system files cannot be deleted just like that. It prevents the user from having access to the current folder. Windows versions... This message usually appears.
Attention! Proceed with deleting old Windows directories and Program Files(program files) only after you transfer all their data to the new Windows!
If the new system is installed on the same partition as the old one
In this case, we just need to clean up old system files, including the Windows.old folder. To do this, we use the Disk Cleanup program, which is included with the operating system. can be found on the Microsoft website.
By the way, you can delete a number of other service files in the same way.
If the new system is installed in a different partition
Remove old Windows from the boot menu
To put things in order in the boot menu, open " Extra options systems "(to do this, press Win-Pause and select the item of the same name).
Now uncheck the box "Display the list of systems ...". All: the old operating system will not appear in the boot menu when the computer starts.
For those who like to control all launch parameters, we offer a method with direct editing of this menu. Press Win + R and write msconfig in the window that appears.
We simply delete the old system from the list.
Removing old system files
Now let's get down to deleting the very Windows directory old system... To do this, find it on the disk and open the folder properties.
Here we select "Security" and click on the "Advanced" button.
To become the owner of the folder, enter the name of the user under which you are working in the field indicated in the picture.
Do not forget to check the boxes "Replace owner of subcontainers and objects" and "Replace all records ...", click OK.
You are now the owner of the folder and it is in your power to delete the directory. During the deletion, the following message may appear.
Check the box "Run for all ..." and click Continue.
Remember that after deleting old system files the way back will be closed. So take your time with it. First, make sure that all the programs and data you need have been transferred to the new system.
